Snapchat Down: Some Users Experiencing Connectivity Issues

Don’t fret, you’re not the only one whose Snapchat was inaccessible Monday afternoon. The mobile application’s support team tweeted that “some Snapchatters” were having trouble loading the app and vowed to get to the bottom of it.

Some Snapchatters are having trouble with the app 😓 We're looking into it!

The support team tweeted after the first tweet that they were aware of what was causing the issue and said they were “working on a fix with Google.” It encouraged users to stay logged into the app. However, the tweet was deleted several minutes after it was sent. It was re-sent about 20 minutes later with much of the same information but no mention of Google.

TwitterThe now-deleted tweet that Snapchat sent.

We're aware of the issue and working on a fix🔧 Stay tuned for updates! ⚠️We recommend staying logged into your account.

The error appears to have been fixed for most users in about four hours from sending the first tweet. But thousands of users have reported issues with the app during that span, saying that it tried to refresh and ultimately ended with an error message saying: “Could not refresh. Please try again.” Other users were unable to send and receive Snaps.

The error message shown to some Snapchat users.

Others complained that once they logged out of their accounts, they were unable to log back in. It’s currently unclear how the outage started. Snapchat’s communications team hasn’t yet responded to an inquiry by Heavy regarding the outage.

With just about any outage, social media users weren’t happy. Some people were worried they would lose their “Snapstreaks” while others were wondering how they were going to get by without using the app.

If you’re one of those in danger of losing your “Snapstreaks,” though, there appears to be a solution. According to a Twitter user, those in danger of losing their streaks should go to Snapchat’s website and file a claim that says “connectivity issues.” The user said the streak will then return. Click here to go to Snapchat’s website and learn how to file a claim.

Snapchat is the No. 4 most-downloaded application on the iTunes App Store behind Instagram, YouTube and tbh. According to statistics compiled by Omnicore in August, more than 300 million people are considered “monthly active users” of Snapchat while 173 million are “daily active users.”

The application was released in September 2011 after it was created by several students at Stanford University. The uniqueness of the application is that the photos and messages are only available for a select amount of time before they’re inaccessible. Over the years, the company has rolled out numerous features such as chatting with text messages and the “Snap Map.” The “Snap Map” feature was released in June 2017 and allowed users to see the location of friends on a map. Understandably so, the release of the feature received criticism over its privacy and safety.

A Snapchat spokesperson addressed the controversy, saying: “The safety of our community is very important to us and we want to make sure that all Snapchatters, parents, and educators have accurate information about how the Snap Map works.”

The application was the subject of a hack by an anonymous group on December 31, 2013. The hackers exposed about 4.6 million Snapchat usernames and phone numbers, publishing the information on a website.

After the hack, the group released a statement saying its objective was to “raise public awareness” and put pressure onto the company to fix a security vulnerability.

Earlier this year, Snap, Inc., Snapchat’s parent company, made its debut as a publicly-traded company and raised more than $3.4 billion in its initial public offering. During its first day on the stock market, the stock closed at $24.48, up 44 percent from where it started the day.